Director Abhinay Deo's movie Force 2 starring John Abraham and Sonakshi Sinha, has hit the silver screens today and the movie has got mixed reviews from the viewers. Force 2 is an action thriller, a sequel to a 2011 film, Force. The film is about the evil intention of one man, who puts the nation under threat by killing agents of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). It's racy which packs in some exciting action and chase sequences and makes up for a riveting watch! John Abraham’s sculpted body, washboard abs, vein revealing biceps have been strategically been portrayed in the movie. Successfully, the movie breezes away in the 1st half but becomes a little slow and unbearable in the second half with a predictable end. Sonakshi Sinha hardly catches our attention and is completely overshadowed by the gutsy, powerful John! The songs of the movie are quite avoidable and some action sequences deserved a better treatment. Overall for its action and Jonh’s performance, Force 2 is a one-time watch.

Abhinay Deo, the director, tries to infuse some quirky elements. Even John Abraham attempts dead-pan humour. But these efforts give way to lethargic chase sequences. Budapest’s scenic beauty takes the attention further away from what’s happening on the screen. But what a location! Breathtaking aerial shots are Force 2’s biggest attraction. Imre Juhasz and Mohana Krishna’s cinematography has captured the city in its complete glory. They decide to go with a video game like camera planning during the climax. This abrupt move makes the viewer think about the characters’ movements in other scenes. None of them, not even the writing, give any indication of the characters’ mechanical movements or a set thought process. So, when the final action sequence begins, it seems like another film rather than the part of the ongoing one. Brave experiment nevertheless. Mardaani presented Tahir Raj Bhasin as a talent to look forward to. He has treaded a similar path here, and is in a good form. He stands tall to John Abraham who is film’s biggest attraction. His action hero image is working overtime in Force 2 and he somehow makes the film bearable. Sonakshi Sinha’s underwritten role doesn’t let the director’s feminist take on certain issues blossom. Force 2 has a noble heart. It wants to get the undercover agents, who selflessly serve the nation, their due. But the narrative hasn’t taken a favourable shape. Sadly, it’s mostly about muscles and very less about intelligence.

Abhinay Deo's screenplay wins in the way it is paced. The first half of Force 2 is crisp, taut, just like you expect a thriller to be. There is no stupid waste-of-time song and dance. There is so much happening on the screen that you don't have the liberty or space to breathe. There are a few of those edge-of-the-seat moments, mostly announced by a blaring background score and Force 2 doesn't score much on that front. The narrative is kept straight throughout, sans any convolutions as such. Kudos to writers Parveez Sheikh and Jasmeet K Reen for that. Force 2 has some well-choreographed action sequences with guns blazing in full glory. KK and Yash hardly pause for a breath. It is the abundance of the gunshots and action sequences that end up weighing the film down post intermission. There are twists that are predictable from half a mile away including the biggest of them. The climax leaves you with a feeling of dissatisfaction. Force 2 could have been a lot better had the director paid a bit more attention to the second half of the film. At 2 hours 6 minutes, Force 2 doesn't take a toll on your patience. Imre Juhasz and Mohana Krishna's camera captures Budapest in all its glory. Force 2 raises a tricky point. Should RAW agents be named and called martyrs instead of the country washing its hands off them if they're killed in service? Maybe the government will be able to answer that. As for us commoners, Force 2 is a decent one-time watch. Just make sure your ears are seasoned to bear loud noise.

When Force 2 flags, it is the villain, played with aplomb by Tahir Raj Bhasin, who holds the film together. He gets the best lines and makes them count. The screenplay has nothing new to offer, the character played by Sonakshi is half-baked and John Abraham's action hero is limited to peddling the conventional tropes of the genre. Force 2, therefore, isn't the force that it might have been had it dared to drift away from the familiar and into the uncharted. That is way beyond the ken of this film. Thanks to the fast-paced narrative, Force 2 gives the audience little space to draw away from the hurly-burly, survey the action from a distance and spot holes in the construct. There are several, of course, but because of the power of the action scenes, the film works, if only at a very basic level. It's the sheer predictability of this narrative form that drags Force 2 down a few notches. Be that as it may, it is an entertainer that passes muster. And if you are a John Abraham fan, there can be no reason whatever to give Force 2 a miss.

In this sequel to the 2011 ‘Force’, ACP Yashvardhan returns in a faster, more thrilling actioner, set mostly in grand, scenic Budapest, which has been used as a hotbed of espionage in several flicks. Scratch that. ‘Force 2’ aims for all of those things, and by rights, should have been all of those things, but ends up feeling overlong and stretched, and more than anything else, overfamiliar. That’s the problem when you try doing a Bond-Bourne combo full of bristling cops and smart spies and twisted villains, and sexy Mata Hari types, but you end up papering over the thrills and spills by Bollywood-style swelling background music, and a female lead in a complicated relationship with her gun. Abraham is efficient and does what he needs to. His super toned muscles are used well to get rid of the bad guys, but not even the most impressive bod can rise above a sluggish script. Tahir Raj Bhasin is the interesting element in ‘Force 2’, and he tries bringing a bit of complexity to the way he plays bad guy Shiv Sharma’s part, but again gets buried in all the obviousness. The way it plays out, ‘Force 2’ forces us to stray far too much in the been there-seen that territory.

I spy with my little eye… an action movie with some cool stunts but a textbook thriller plot. The thing that works in Force 2’s favour is pacing. In spite of a familiar story, the action sequences are timed perfectly and executed stylishly; there are no songs except for a recreation of Kaante Nahi Kat-te, which moves the story along. Most of the climax sequence is shot like a first-person shooter game which is a refreshing experiment. But the experiments stop there. The story is excruciatingly generic. A mastermind has an ulterior motive behind betraying his nation; the heroes must then strike a balance between morality and vengeance. It’s a decent time at the cinema for the thrill-seekers; the action won’t disappoint. Go ahead and may the force be with you!